React Native hooks, useRef and useEffect - reactjs

Question

I'm trying to translate a Class Component into a Functional one with React Native.
My Search component lets the user search for a film name and I'm making an API call to show him all corresponding films.
Here is my class component :
class Search extends React.Component {
constructor(props) {
super(props);
this.searchedText = "";
this.page = 0
this.totalPages = 0
this.state = {
films: [],
isLoading: false
}
}
_loadFilms() {
if (this.searchedText.length > 0) {
this.setState({ isLoading: true })
getFilmsFromApiWithSearchedText(this.searchedText, this.page+1).then(data => {
this.page = data.page
this.totalPages = data.total_pages
this.setState({
films: [ ...this.state.films, ...data.results ],
isLoading: false
})
})
}
}
_searchTextInputChanged(text) {
this.searchedText = text
}
_searchFilms() {
this.page = 0
this.totalPages = 0
this.setState({
films: [],
}, () => {
this._loadFilms()
})
}
render() {
return (
<View style={styles.main_container}>
<TextInput
style={styles.textinput}
placeholder='Titre du film'
onChangeText={(text) => this._searchTextInputChanged(text)}
onSubmitEditing={() => this._searchFilms()}
/>
<Button title='Rechercher' onPress={() => this._searchFilms()}/>
<FlatList
data={this.state.films}
keyExtractor={(item) => item.id.toString()}
renderItem={({item}) => <FilmItem film={item}/>}
onEndReachedThreshold={0.5}
onEndReached={() => {
if (this.page < this.totalPages) {
this._loadFilms()
}
}}
/>
</View>
)
}
}
render() {
return (
<View>
<TextInput
onChangeText={(text) => this._searchTextInputChanged(text)}
onSubmitEditing={() => this._searchFilms()}
/>
<Button title='Search' onPress={() => this._searchFilms()}/>
<FlatList
data={this.state.films}
keyExtractor={(item) => item.id.toString()}
renderItem={({item}) => <FilmItem film={item}/>}
onEndReachedThreshold={0.5}
onEndReached={() => {
if (this.page < this.totalPages) {
this._loadFilms()
}
}}
/>
{this._displayLoading()}
</View>
)
}
}
How can I translate the following with hooks :
this.page and this.totalPages ? is useRef the solution ?
in _searchFilms() I'm using setState callback to make a new API call when my film list is empty (because it's a new search). But doing it right after doesn't work because setState is asynchronous.
But I can't find a way to do it with hooks.
I think useEffect could do this but :
I only want to make this API call when my film list is empty, because I call _searchFilms() for a new search.
_loadFilms() is called on user scroll to add more films to the FlatList (for the same search) so I can't clear this.films in this case.
Here is how I translated it so far :
const Search = () => {
const [searchText, setSearchText] = useState('');
const [films, setFilms] = useState([]);
// handle pagination
const page = useRef(0);
const totalPages = useRef(0);
// handle api fetch
const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false);
const loadFilmsFromApi = () => {
getFilmsFromApiWithSearchedText(searchText, page + 1).then((data) => {
page.current = data.page;
totalPages.current = data.total_pages;
setFilms(films => [...films, ...data.results]);
setIsLoading(false);
})
};
const searchFilm = () => {
if (searchText.length > 0) {
page.current = 0;
totalPages.current = 0;
setFilms([]);
// HERE MY Films list won't be cleared (setState asynchronous)
loadFilmsFromApi();
// after the api call, clear input
setSearchText('');
}
};
useEffect(() => {
console.log(page, totalPages, "Film number" + films.length);
}, [films]);

Answer 1

I think you are on the right path. As for totalPages and page, having it as a ref makes sense if you want to maintain that values between different renders ( when setting state )
const Search = () => {
const [searchText, setSearchText] = useState('');
const [films, setFilms] = useState([]);
// handle pagination
const page = useRef(0);
const totalPages = useRef(0);
// handle api fetch
const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(false);
// This can be invoked by either search or user scroll
// When pageNum is undefined, it means it is triggered by search
const loadFilmsFromApi = (pageNum) => {
console.log("APPEL", 'loadFills');
getFilmsFromApiWithSearchedText(searchText, pageNum ? pageNum + 1 : 1).then((data) => {
page.current = data.page;
totalPages.current = data.total_pages;
setFilms(films => {
if(pageNum) {
return [...films, ...data.results];
} else {
return [data.results];
}
});
setIsLoading(false);
})
};
useEffect(() => {
if (searchText.length > 0) {
page.current = 0;
totalPages.current = 0;
setFilms([]);
loadFilmsFromApi();
// after the api call, clear input
setSearchText('');
}
}, [searchText, loadFilmsFromApi]);
useEffect(() => {
console.log(page, totalPages, "Nombre de film " + films.length);
}, [films]);
return ( <
div > Search < /div>
);
};
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react/16.6.3/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/react-dom/16.6.3/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>

Answer 2

Not totally clear what your question is, but it sounds like you want to clear films state before you fire off the query to the api? I am also not clear on the use of useRef here - useRef is simply a way to get a reference to an element so it's easy to access it later - like get a reference to a div and be able to access it easily via myDivRef.current
const = myDivRef = useRef;
...
<div ref={myDivRef}/>
If that is the case, then I would simply set the state of films once in the return of the API call. WRT to the refs, it seems like you this should just be normal variables, or possible state items in your function.
UPDATE:
After clearing up the goal here, you could simply add a parameter to loadFilmsFromApi to determine if you should append or overwrite:
const loadFilmsFromApi = (append) => {
getFilmsFromApiWithSearchedText(searchText, page + 1).then((data) => {
page.current = data.page;
totalPages.current = data.total_pages;
if (append) {
setFilms({
films: this.state.films.concat(data.results)
});
} else {
setFilms({
films: data.results
});
}
setIsLoading(false);
})
};